Stuff That’s Done: NEMA Chicago

NEMA Chicago started out as One Grant Park. I liked that name. It didn’t give you the address, but you still knew right where it must be. You know, that really really tall one at the south end of the park. Alas, things and names change.

Thursday, James McHugh Construction sent out the above tweet, announcing they’ve done all they can do at NEMA, more than three years after taking control of the empty lot at Indiana and Michigan Avenues, and Roosevelt Road.

There are 800 apartments in this brand new 76-story skyscraper, and if the views of Chicago aren’t enough for you, it also has about a kajillion square feet of amenity space. It’s a marvelous design by Rafael Viñoly Architects. Crescent Heights is the developer. NEMA Chicago opened to residents in July 2019.

McHugh Construction Instagrams NEMA Chicago’s 50th

There was another Golden Anniversary of sorts to celebrate last week, as McHugh Construction posted the above photo to their Instagram page announcing the start of Floor #50 at NEMA Chicago. The South Loop tower by Rafael Viñoly Architects, which started life as 1200 South Indiana, became One Grant Park, and has now settled in as a member of Crescent Heights’ NEMA franchise, will eventually grow to 76 stories.

Views of Chicago, from the18th Street Bridge

Chicago 18th Street Bridge

My town, Chicago, as seen from the 18th Street Bridge.

I walk across the South Loop’s 18th Street Bridge once or twice a year, whether I need to or not. And that’s a shame. It’s a great perspective of the city, including the skyline and the magnificent St. Charles Air Line Bridge. For six months, it was all in my back yard. Now that I’m gone from the neighborhood, I realize how unappreciative I was of my proximity to it.

I need to get here more. A lot more.

I may have gotten a tad carried away with cropping photos into panoramas here. Indulge me. As usual, I couldn’t decide which ones *not* to include.

Chicago 18th Street Bridge Chicago 18th Street Bridge Chicago 18th Street Bridge Chicago 18th Street Bridge Chicago 18th Street Bridge Chicago 18th Street Bridge Chicago 18th Street Bridge Chicago 18th Street Bridge Chicago 18th Street Bridge Chicago 18th Street Bridge Chicago 18th Street Bridge

St. Charles Air Line Bridge

Canal Street Railroad Bridge

Ping Tom Park

Construction on the horizon

 

 

One Grant Park gets a new name (NEMA Chicago) and new glass (finally!)

NEMA Chicago glass

NEMA Chicago grows in the South Loop, despite being obscured by the Canal Street Railroad Bridge.

One Grant Park was a fine name for the new tower at 1200 South Indiana Avenue in the South Loop. It paid homage to the park whose south end the tower would anchor. Alas, the moniker wasn’t meant to last, and now One Grant Park has a new name: NEMA Chicago. This is according to the website of developer Crescent Heights. And if it’s on their website, it has to be real.

Something else One Grant Park just–oops…NEMA Chicago–just picked up, and this took longer than expected: cladding. Curtain wall. Windows. Glass. Glorious glass. Some up high, some down low. But it’s there, at last.